Welcome to my website,

  I am a Senior Lecturer (≈ Associate Professor), Head of the Political Economy Research Division in the Government Department at the University of Essex, and Senior Visiting Fellow at the LSE Government Department. I am also an Associate Member at Nuffield College University of Oxford, a Research Associate at the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), and a Research Associate at Oxford's Latin American Centre.

  My research is in the political economy of development, with a focus on the role of money in politics and how policies can curb—or amplify—its influence. Lately, I’ve been examining the interplay between money in politics and the environment, including how money in politics can lead to greater deforestation and how natural disasters affect campaign contributions. I also study corruption and political selection. My research uses causal inference methods and data science tools.

  Before academia, I worked at the Inter-American Development Bank as a research fellow evaluating development projects in the field across Latin America.

You can find my CV here.

And more about my research here.

Contact :

Email: nelson.ruiz[at]essex.ac.uk